This site uses different types of cookies, including analytics and functional cookies (its own and from other sites). To change your cookie settings or find out more, click here. If you continue browsing our website, you accept these cookies.

What was your favorite part of Inspire 2017?

I always love to recap after I come back from Inspire. My favorite part is always the networking because when I talk with other users it helps me think of different ways to approach problems and sometimes it opens my eyes to solutions I never even knew were possible. An example of approaching a problem would be something that I learned when talking with Steven Dunbar (author of Freakanomics), I asked him "How do I go about getting data sets from other teams so I can show them how easy it is to solve a problem with Alteryx?" In my organization, as I am sure with many others, data is like a gold insurance policy and most teams don't want anyone else touching it for fear being made obsolete or being told what to do. the cultural practice is such that they limit exposure to show they alone can continue to add value to the company. I asked him specifically because he is able to get unusual data to drive his content and I was sure that came with some challenges.

His answer was simple, host a raffle. Why? There are two issues in a culture such as this, sharing of data is not the social norm and there is not a reward for sharing. A raffle solves both of these. By stating we are hosting a raffle where everyone gives us a data set and we will pick two winners and give them a prize. In doing so you are establishing a new social norm, where everyone is sharing their data and you are rewarding them for sharing. Again this is all about the approach. I will keep everyone posted as to how this works out in application, but it is always thrilling to be around so many intelligent people who can Inspire you to keep trying and keep pushing.